So Close: ‘Get Out’ Loses 100 Percent Rotten Tomatoes Score

Armond White is something of a notorious name in the world of film criticism. While the caliber of his writing commands respect from many of his peers, his contrarian opinions and coarse manner often land him in the middle of mini-controversies within cinephile circles. This is a man who got himself expelled from the New York Film Critics Circle for heckling 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen at the organization’s annual awards dinner. This is a man who publishes an annual ‘Better Than’ list of favorite movies, so he can both name the films he loved and diss the ones that you did in one fell swoop. This is a man who could not give less of a damn what you, me, or anyone else thinks.

So when the news surfaced yesterday afternoon that some dissenting critic had finally shattered Get Out’s perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes with a negative review, it could only be the handiwork of one man. White (who, I guess it bears mentioning, is himself a black man) was no great fan of Jordan Peele’s woke horror thriller, describing the film in his National Review headline as a ‘trite get-whitey movie.’ He describes Peele’s work on his sketch program with Keegan-Michael Key as ‘unfunny,’ and in an equally false statement, calls out the film for introducing Lakeith Stanfield’s character early on and then never showing him again. (He appears midway through the film in a lunch party scene.) It‘s a pan for the ages, and not everyone’s taking it kindly.

Stanfield got wind of the review, and the young actor had an extremely candid response for White (now deleted, screenshotted for posterity):

White had a response of his own as well, rightly noting that hey, this is criticism, and what would be the point if we all shared the same opinion? (Throwing in ‘1st Amendment win,’ however, might be a little bold.)